


Blue & Grey

by attitude28



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2021-04-03
Packaged: 2021-04-12 02:06:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21594706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attitude28/pseuds/attitude28
Summary: The wolves are close to extinction after centuries of bloody battles against the hunters, there's only a remaining few all across their decaying domainsIn the middle of the night, Momo finds an unlikely ally in Sana: the hunter who's different from everyone else
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Son Chaeyoung, Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana, Im Nayeon/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Minatozaki Sana/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Myoui Mina/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 16
Kudos: 97





	1. Deal

Chaeyoung panted as she took refuge behind the old, weak branch of a fallen tree. It's the middle of the night and she made a mistake by entering the forest all alone, she knows her skills aren't as amazing as those of her unnies but Tzuyu had an horrible fever that won't go down after her shifting took a toll on her body and Chaeyoung knows how to use a few medicine plants from this forest to make her feel better

But this was a mistake. She can smell _them_ in the distance, they have sharp senses and can easily locate a wolf no matter how well they hide. Her unnies warned her about this and she's sure they will nag at her once she goes back to the camp…if she ever goes back

The girl can barely see anything beyond her own nose, the trees are so tall that they block any light coming from the moon. Now she can hear them, their heavy boots crunching on the fallen, hazel leaves as they take careful steps. Chaeyoung holds tight to her body the plants she collected and takes a look behind her even when she knows that won't help a little bit. Just as she shows a bit of her face behind the branch, a bullet zooms past her ear, barely missing and making a deep gash on her cheek. Her heart races and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath

_Do it for Tzuyu_

Chaeyoung runs, as fast as her human legs allow her and the leaves furiously crunch down her feet. They're behind her

“I found her!” Someone screams behind her and the forest is deadly quiet while it echoes throughout every inch of the place “There she is!”

Something in the back of her head, her most primitive animal instinct, yells at her. She needs to shift, _right now_, if she doesn't do this now there might not be a tomorrow and Chaeyoung has to push back her fear. Her unnies won't protect her all the time, she has to grow up

Her hands are shaking as she drops the plants to the ground and stops running, turning back so she can face the hunters that follow her trail like bloodhounds, hungry for her blood. They aren't humans either even when they preach they are. Genetically modified, they got rid of all humans weakness throughout the years and now they're capable of _terrifying_ things one of them is their night vision, they can see as clear as day even in the dark

Killing machines, monsters more than humans, that's what hunters are

But Chaeyoung can't be scared forever, specially if she's trying to prove to Jeongyeon that she's worthy

Just as she was about to shift, barely a few seconds away, two quick shadows get in front of her like they're shielding her from something. Chaeyoung can barely see the but she knows who they are

“Get back” one of them says “Go! Run! We'll follow you!”

Chaeyoung is paralyzed but she reacts, grabs the plants she dropped before and runs again. This time she looks for the light, any source of light that shows her it's an exit. The shadows keep protecting her, they pant close to her ears and the girl finally knows she's safe even when the hunters are close

Two more bullets go past them, none of them hits but the whistling sound is as scary as the forest itself

"Keep running, Chaeyoung! The camp is just ahead!”

The girl does as they said, blindly trusting them like she always has. Her leg muscles ache and burn every time she takes a step, her short hair sticks to her face with sweat and her knuckles turn white after tightly gripping the plants. She can see light behind a bunch of trees, the smell of smoke heavy on her nose. She pushes her body through heavy branches and finally lands face first in front of the camp where they live, the fire they lit up an hour ago is still burning bright but there's not a single light turned on inside the small wood cabin just a few meters behind the fire

Trying to get up, Chaeyoung looks at her guardians: a big, black wolf and a red-ish one of long legs and dense fur. Once again the girl takes a deep breath and she knows she's safe

“What were you thinking?” the red wolf says as it looks straight at the girl who is in the ground. Its stare is soft and calming even behind those yellowish eyes they posses “You could've died!”

A deep growl coming from the black wolf makes them turn their heads towards the forest

Four hunters, all women, come forward not a scratch visible in their uniforms or bodies. Dressed totally in black with coats that reach their knees, pants adapted with gun and knife holsters and heavy boots up to their calves. Chaeyoung looks dumbfounded while the wolves move forward and protect her again

“You're in our territory, step back” the red wolf adds “This side of the forest is ours”

“You got no right to talk like that, filthy beast” one of the hunters, with black hair in a bob cut and eyes as green as the top of the trees, takes out a pistol and points at the wolf “The girl crossed our side of the forest when you know its strictly prohibited"

“I-I just grabbed some plants!” Chaeyoung squeaks and all looks are on her. “Nothing else!”

“Plants or not you know the treaty, fool and you must die for it"

“What?”

The black wolf comes forward and pounces on the hunter with zero fear. The red wolf pushes Chaeyoung to the wood cabin and faces the rest of the hunters who seem to make no ove as they watch the other fight fiercely. The hunter shoots and the wolf dodges the silver bullets over and over, zooming past her and barely touching a few hairs of her fur

The wolf jumps in the air, its fangs glowing in the dark and just when it's about to bite the hunter head off, another hunter steps in at lightning speed and punches the wolf in the chest, throwing them against one of the trees and breaking it in half

“That's enough, Jihyo” the hunter says. She has her hair long, blonde in color and her eyes are grey. She must be the tallest of them all as she is a few inches taller than this Jihyo who fought against the black wolf “We don't need to do this”

Chaeyoung looks at the red wolf and it slowly goes back to its human form. A tall woman of brunette hair and slim figure faces the hunters and keeps protecting Chaeyoung from them. Chaeyoung can see the cabin door opening

“Dahyun! Stay inside” the red wolf shouts. The door closes again, this time the lock clicks back in place

From the broken tree, raises a woman cleaning the blood coming from her mouth with the back of her hand and slowly walking towards them. She fixes the bangs on her forehead and dusts off her clothes

“Momo-unnie…?” Chaeyoung whispers

“I'm fine, just a few broken ribs”

Momo immediately makes eye contact with the blonde hunter and narrows her eyes, she sniffs the air around her and quickly covers her nose with the back of her hand

“I can't stand your fucking smell” Momo growls and the smoke coming from her body it's a clear sign that she's about to shift again “Why do you smell different to the others?”

“Let's talk, wolf” the blonde says “We don't want trouble and this is for the sake of your pack”

Momo huffs and takes a side glance at the red wolf

“Jeongyeon, you do that”

Momo walks and stands beside Chaeyoung who quickly wraps her arms around her shoulders and sighs in relief

“Are you okay, unnie?”

“The healing will kick in soon, I'm good”

Jeongyeon steps forward and faces the blonde hunter

“I'm the alpha. What do you want from us, hunter?”

As Jeongyeon glances at the rest of the hunters, one of them catches her eye. A girl of blue eyes and soft stare, her scent seemed to be stronger than the others and Jeongyeon covered her nose because she was going crazy thanks to it…

“My name is Minatozaki Sana. You know about the treaty, right?” Jeongyeon nods in understanding “According to that…your friend should die but I'm giving her the chance to live under one condition”

As Sana lifts her index finger, she takes a glance at Momo who pierces her soul with those heavy eyes of hers

“She'll work for us”

Chaeyoung lowers her head just in time when Momo raises from the ground and stands besides Jeongyeon but says no word about it. They both know what Sana means with that _‘working for us’_ thing: Chaeyoung will have to hunt wolves…hunting your own kind it's the closest thing to losing any sort of pride and as a wolf, that's the most important thing

“She has no control of her shift” Jeongyeon says “She'll get you into trouble as soon as you start hunting”

“Good then” Sana smirks and raises her gun pointing at Chaeyoung “Then she dies”

“I'll do it” Momo intervenes as quick as her mouth let's her “I'll help you hunt but I have a condition too”

Sana looks at her with the same smirk

“What is it?”

“You won't hunt us from now on. Our camp will be safe”

“Deal” Sana says and the hunters behind her gasp. Jihyo is quick to step forward and grab Sana by the shoulders, her knuckles white with strength

“What are you doing, Sana?!”

“Trust me”

Jihyo and Sana stare at each other for what seems hours until Jihyo finally backs down and huffs, stepping behind Sana. The hunter reaches her hand towards Momo but the wolf shakes her head and covers her nose again

“I mean it, hunter. Take a shower or something you…you're disgusting”

Jeongyeon steps in the middle of them and shakes Sana hand firmly

“We have a deal then, meet me tomorrow at the hunter camp”

* * *

“Dahyun! I brought the plants you needed!” Chaeyoung screams as soon as she steps inside the wood cabin and Jeongyeong sighs before sitting at the only table they own. Momo lays down in the couch and covers her eyes with her forearm

“Thank you, Chaeng” Dahyun seems relieved when she grabs the squished plants from Chaeyoung shaking hands and places them on top of the table where Jeongyeon is sitting

“How is she?” Jeongyeon asks

“Getting better, unnie” Dahyun replies while she sorts the plants and takes some in her hands before grabbing a pot of boiling water from the small stove near the table “Her fever is down and she should wake up by tomorrow”

“Why isn't she healing?” Chaeyoung softly says, more to herself than anybody else and Jeongyeon sharp ears quickly catch her mumble. The red wolf stands and points at her with her index finger

“You two need to understand that you don't have control of your shifts! You need more training and then you can look for trouble! When will you get it?”

Chaeyoung looks down, Dahyun does too even when this warning wasn't really meant for her. The three of them are young and have no experience when it comes to shifting and wolves but curiosity always kills the cat and they have to be curious once in a while to know the real dangers

Tzuyu was just trying to check her powers, see how it feels to shift without their unnie supervision once in a while

“Let them be, Jeong” Momo grunts from the couch and spits a bit of blood on the ground. Her healing is so slow today, she can still feel the ribs getting back in place, a quick nap should help her feel better “They're just kids”

“Kids who will put our lives in danger”

“Hunters are no big deal”

“You say that because you just signed to kill your own kind, fucking idiot”

Dahyun seems shocked and just then she realizes she didn't ask about what happened outside, all that noise and screaming and the sound of a tree being cut in half. Momo seems to read her thoughts and she continues

“Long story short: I'm working for the hunters thanks to our lovely Chaeyoungie”

Chaeyoung just cowers in fear

“I was just trying to help Tzuyu and Dahyun…”

“No big deal, Chaeng” Momo throws a thumbs up and then closes her eyes “I wish I could stay away from that disgusting blonde hunter though”

“What does she smell like?” the red fox asks curiously, tilting her head to one side “I swear to god that I couldn't smell her”

“Really? She smells like…chocolate but it's so strong that its sickening. The others had the same scent as always: something rotten. But that blondie.…Sana I think, she smells _so good_ that its bad”

Jeongyeon frowns and brings a hand to her chin

“One of the others smelled like flowers too. She said no word but her scent was to damn annoying”

“Don't they all smell the same?” Chaeyoung furrows her eyebrows as she concentrates and tries to remember what it was like when they chased her. Jeongyeon taught her what hunters smell like and they usually are all the same then, what do this two were different to the others?

The young girl gets no response and, just minutes after, they all hear Momo softly snoring on the couch

"Let's get some sleep” Jeongyeon sighs as she gets up and walks towards her room, stretching her sore arms above her head. Muscles and bones crack and get back in place “If you need anything, Dahyun just knock on my door 'kay?”

Dahyun nods and she's left behind with Chaeyoung

When they see that Jeongyeon has closed her door and Momo is still in dreamland, Dahyun quickly pushes Chaeyoung to the outside of the cabin and punches her slightly on the shoulder

“What what you thinking?” Dahyun whispers-screams and makes sure nobody heard them

“Please don't say that again, I had enough” Chaeyoung closes her eyes and shakes her head several times “I went to get what you asked!”

“But all the way to the hunters territories?! Are you dumb?!”

“I didn't know it was their territories!”

“Oh come on! Do you need some warning signs that says "Get killed here" or something?!"

Chaeyoung sighs for the umpteenth time that day and just falls to the ground, the bonfire is still alive and it provides with a bit of warm. Things will get too cold in the night so they need to make sure that the cabin stays warm at least for a few hours.

“I feel so useless, Dahyun” she confesses and her friend just slumps besides her “Momo-unnie and Jeongyeon-unnie are always protecting us and I'm just getting them in danger every time…I'm tired of that and I just wanted to help but I fucked everything up didn't I?”

Dahyun wraps an arm around Chaeyoung shoulders and shakes her up a bit, trying to cheer her up

“It's okay, Chaeng…you know Momo-unnie doesn't fear hunters and you're safe now. Tzuyu will be okay for tomorrow so you really helped!”

Chaeyoung rests her head on Dahyun shoulder

“I just wish I could be a little more helpful”

“Maybe we can train together! I'm sure Jeongyeon-unnie won't mind helping us tomorrow and we have enough food for at least a whole month so we don't have to hunt for a while”

The youngest nods again and Dahyun ruffles her hair lovingly before helping her get up

“Now, Chaeng tell me the truth…did you poop your pants when the hunters came for you?”

Chaeyoung chuckles

“Just a little bit”

* * *

After leaving the forest, Momo could see that the hunter camp wasn't very different from what other wolves said about it.

It was an open field full of tents as big as the tents of a circus. Everything was protected by a metal barrier that served as the main gate, heavily guarded by a pair of hunters. The flow of people was constant and a couple of things caught Momo's attention: the first one that there was no person who walked around the place without first bowing to Sana who was standing right at the front gate. The second that there were too many small children with ragged and old clothes being sent to different tents

Children? In a hunter camp? What kind of things could a child do in a place like this?

"Attention!"

Momo looked up with interest at the sound of a soldier screaming. The heavy door of the entrance began to open slowly and from it emerged a group of three people who were guarding a fourth person whose hands were handcuffed behind their back and a necklace was secured to their neck, their clothes were covered in blood and they had at least four bullet wounds that had already healed. Their head was covered by a plastic bag and Momo couldn't see their face however, the scent around them was too familiar. Momo clearly distinguished that they were a wolf

"They velvet unit did it again!" Another soldier shouted excitedly and the people outside the tents cheered happily. Sana is quickly standing besides the wolf with that lightning speed of hers, taking Momo hard by the wrist and, when the wolf tried to pull away, she turned her head to look at Momo with that pair of grey eyes that seemed to melt her soul

"Keep quiet if you want to live" were the only words Sana told her and, almost immediately, Momo knew this group of people were dangerous

Soon the group of people passed in front of Sana and Momo. One of them stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at both women. With a raised eyebrow she stopped the rest of the group and approached them. Momo looked down at the heavy hunting rifle she carried and the hunter's suit without a single scratch

"Minatozaki Sana" the woman said without doing any kind of honor towards the blonde "It's been such a long time"

Her voice sounded so soft... so out of place

"Apparently your team did their job again, Bae Joohyun"

The woman smiled softly, so out of place one more time

"It's just a matter of luck. This wolf was hanging around in the woods and we didn't hesitate to get them" Her gaze then turned to Momo and, although her golden eyes darkened with an unknown feeling towards the werewolf, she smiled at her in the same way that she smiled at Sana. "I see that you also had some luck with a capture"

"It seems the forest has been the place they enjoy the most lately" Sana looked briefly at Momo and then returned to the woman "We have a treasure in our hands"

Suddenly, almost spontaneously, the wolf they captured let out a loud growl. Momo stepped forward to try and defend herself but it didn't make sense, the necklace the wolf had on their neck emitted a powerful electric shock that left them screaming in pain on the ground. Apparently it wasn't a common discipline method since even Sana was surprised with what she had just seen

Another of the women accompanying the wolf approached them and checked then carefully

"Isn't it amazing, Sana?" The woman said, still smiling "It's Yeri most recent experiment and it seems to be perfect to help us with these beasts, is not used yet in the whole camp but it probably will be soon"

The wolf whimpered in pain again and rose with difficulty from the ground. Momo still looked with shocked eyes at the scene, trying to hold back from shifting and Sana kept a sepulchral silence that didn't help much to calm Momo's wolf instincts

"Anyway, we have to leave... there is a lot to do with this monster" the woman raised a hand, waved goodbye and then left with the rest of the group to one of the most remote tents at the edge of the camp. Sana and Momo stared at them

"Let's go" Sana signaled to Momo to follow her "With those guys here it's going to be difficult for you to shift again"

Momo didn't question much and just followed Sana

After several minutes of walking. Sana and Momo came to a part of the forest inside the camp. It was a piece of meadow surrounded by trees and, because of the different plastic silhouettes placed around it, it seemed to be used as a shooting range by hunters.

Sana stood in the middle of the meadow and Momo stared at her

"Who are those guys we just saw?" The werewolf was the first one to speak "They don't simply hunt wolves do they?"

"Those guys are no joke" Sana answered in a firm voice "They're the velvet unit. The woman who spoke to us is its current leader, Bae Joohyun. Every time you're around here, you _need_ to stay away from them"

Momo raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest

"Why?"

Sana was silent for a moment and then spoke carefully

"They are pure hunters. They have no trace of humanity left, they are the perfect experiment... real killing machines. I'm surprised to see they brought one of your kind here and I don't have the slightest idea what they will do with them"

Sana's gaze made contact with Momo's

"Don't even think for a minute about facing them or shifting near them"

Momo wanted to ask more questions but ended up nodding and trying to understand the requests of that beautiful, disgustingly sweet woman. Joohyun was out of this world with her long black hair and beautiful eyes, her pale features and red lips but Sana was a true work of art itself. Momo can't deny it

And Momo couldn't help but feel attracted to her like a fly towards the light, no matter how much she hated her scent

"I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you here" Sana rolls up the sleeves of her uniform up to her elbows, slowly for each arm "I have no intention of hurting you but I'm interested in checking your skills, never in my life had I seen a wolf with your eyes and strength. You handle pain pretty good too, how are your ribs for today?"

“Better than ever” Momo replies as she carefully stretches her limbs

Sana put on a battle pose and smirked

"Do you think you can fight with me this time? No holding back"

Momo smirked back and then chuckled. Beating a hunter for free? Sign Momo the hell up

"Of course"

The wolf only took a few steps back before her body was covered in smoke and shifted into the amazing beast that Sana saw back at their camp, shaking her fur and looking at her with a hunting look. Momo rested her weight on her back paws and took her best battle stance

"Come at me, Momo"


	2. Liege

Sun shone brightly through the thick fabric of the tent. French toast, bacon, maybe some eggs too...that's what breakfast usually is like for Mina and the rest of Sana's unit inside the all white tent where they slept. When Mina gets down from her bunk bed she quickly checks the bed below hers. Jihyo isn't there which means Mina is already late for breakfast and, by now, all that's left must be the remains of a burn toast. With a pout and a heavy sigh, Mina drags her feet towards the improvised kitchen

Nayeon and Jihyo are sitting at the table talking about some gossip they heard from the guards at the front door. Mina frowns when she sees no trace of Sana

"Where's Sana?"

Jihyo smiles at her, so foreign for someone who almost killed a wolf just yesterday without showing any signs of mercy

"She is with that wolf from yesterday" Nayeon leans on the table and rest her head on her chin, she's pouting and that can only mean she's bored as hell. Jihyo shakes her head and continues where Nayeon left off

"The black one, remember?" Mina nods and the deal from yesterday feels so weird. Like a fever dream "She's testing her strength, see how far they can go"

"Why would she do that?" Mina questions as she takes a few steps forwards and breathes a sigh of relief when she still finds some eggs on the frying pan and a few pieces of toast. She takes them all for her own plate and quietly sits besides Jihyo so she can enjoy her first food of the day "Isn't it dangerous? Those beasts are...unpredictable"

"Well, that wolf sure knows what she's doing and have control of their shift" Jihyo says as she slumps on her chair "Sana punched the hell out of her and did you see her face?"

Nayeon opens her eyes and mouth wide before nodding

"I know, right?! She coughed blood and all and she smugly says 'Just some broken ribs'" Nayeon throws her hands up in the air "Wow...that girl is metal as fuck"

Mina laughs and takes a small bite of the toast. It's cold and feels like a cardboard box but its better than nothing

"Well, I'm sure that Sana isn't scared of her. Remember that feral from the other day? Sana took care of it like it was just a puppy"

Jihyo nods, almost dreamily and Nayeon gaze goes down. Mina can't ignore the sudden change at the simple mention of their leader name. This has to be the most awkward moment of the whole day and the youngest can't take it so she grabs whatever it's left of her cardboard toast and walks towards her hunting rifle, taking the strap and pulling it over her shoulder. Nayeon quickly looks at her with a scowl

"Hey, hey lady. May I ask where do you think you're going?"

Mina flashes one of her gummy smiles and she knows this can shake both of her unnies to the core. It's a great 'blackmailing' method

"I'm just taking a walk around the forest, it won't be long"

"Don't go too far, Mina-yah" Jihyo says. Her green eyes reflect only worry and Mina feels bad for trying to blackmail her unnies with just a smile when they were genuinly caring for her "Sana will ask for you as soon as she's back"

"I'll be back in an hour, okay? See ya!"

Mina pokes her head out through the front opening of the tent and makes sure nobody is watching as she steps outside and adjusts the rifle on her shoulder, strapping it tight so it won't fall. It's already loaded, a careless mistake could lead to horrible consequences. She finishes her toast and slowly walks inside the forest. There's a trail drawn on the ground thanks to the countless amount of hunters that walk inside every day, the forest is wide and dense and it covers much more than Mina can even think of but the forest has been divided by hunters and wolves since centuries ago. The north side belongs to hunters, the south side to wolves and whoever crosses that invisible line must be killed...Sana surely broke the rules when that girl crossed the line in the middle of the night, just at the same time they were patrolling the border

Ten minutes after walking, Mina glances behind her and can't see the trail anymore which means she's already deep into the place. It's quiet, deadly quiet for a place that's filled with not only feral wolves but also wild animals, wolf packs and other hunters. She looks up, the sun barely filters through the leaves and she smiles when a soft breeze hits her face and ruffles her hair

A loud growl makes her grab her rifle with both hands and stay alert. The growl is followed by a gunshot, then two, then three and another growl

Guided by the echoes of sound, Mina slowly makes her way towards the source. She's careful of the leaves that crunch under her boots and ends up crouching so she can stay as silent as she can. Her steps take her to the edge of a meadow, the flash of blonde hair that rushes past her is shocking and she loses her balance, falling on her back with the rifle just beside her. Everything is too quick but she can see it as clear as day

Sana and the black wolf

Sana is lightning fast, Mina eyes can't catch her even when they're trained for such situations but the fastest of the wolves can't (more like couldn't) move as fast as Sana. The blonde hunter rushes past the black wolf and shoots her gun: one time, two times, three times, four times. Not a single one of those shots hit but they go really close to the black wolf who is just standing in the middle of the meadow with its eyes closed and ears open. Sana repeats the process but this time, when she's trying to deliver the second shot, the wolf jumps in the air and pounces on her. Both fall to the ground, Sana under one of the strong paws of the beast

"Haha! You got me there!" Sana says, happily. Mina knows this gets her going "One more time, cutie"

And just as quick as she fell, Sana is out of the wolf grip and on top of her back. The wolf quickly moves but Sana reflexes are too good and she starts fighting for real. No more escaping. No more playing catch. This time Sana is shooting to kill and the few bullets that hit the wolf body are an obvious reminder of that. Mina is sure that she doesn't belong here so she grabs her rifle again, stands up and quickly goes away from the meadow. As she walks towards another path, she wonders when she'll be as good as Sana? As quick, agile and deadly...

Mina is so deep in her thoughts that she can't see the red wolf coming at her and tackling her to the ground. It seems that this day wanted her to be on the ground and not get up. She opens her eyes and they clash against a pair of yellow orbs that seem scary but don't really do anything to make her cower in fear. Mina thinks they're too warm for their own good

Smoke covers her and then, the human form of the wolf shows itself. Mina can see it's one of the wolves from yesterday

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'll be better if you get off"

"Oh! Sorry again..."

The wolf gets up and offers her hand to Mina. She grabs it and their eyes meet again, this time the wolf narrows them and covers her nose with the back of her hand

"You were here yesterday, don't you?" She says "You're a hunter"

"I am and you must be...Jeongyeon, right? The alpha"

Jeongyeon takes a few steps back and even when she's no longer covering her nose it's obvious that she's deeply disturbed by whatever scent is coming out of the hunter. Mina feels offended and she tries to make use of her senses to catch any bad scent...she showered yesterday anyways so why does this wolf keep doing that? Momo (or at least that's how she thinks the black wolf is called) did the exact same thing to Sana

"It's just that..." Jeongyeon starts and it seems like she reads her mind "Your scent is really strong, I-I don't like it"

"Why? Is it that bad?"

"No, no! Just turn around, please. Leave. I can't take it"

"I swear to god that I bathed yesterday"

"It's not that! It's too _fucking_ sweet!"

Mina takes a few steps back and raises her hands up in the air, her rifle is still strapped to her back so it won't fall no matter how much it shakes. Jeongyeon nods as she sees the hunter walking away

"Good, I'll leave. I'm near the border anyways. Pleasure to meet you again, Jeongyeon"

"Hey! What's your name?"

"Mina!"

"All right!"

A few meters away, Mina turns around and walks normally towards the exit of the forest. She smiles as she remembers the yellow eyes of the wolf and the soft brown of the human.

Hunting just seems a little too fun now

* * *

"All right, idiots...I guess we can call this training now"

Jeongyeon crosses her arms across her chest when she takes a look at the two (rather short, she has to say it) girls in front of her. Tzuyu is sitting by the entrance of the cabin, dressed in her pajamas filled with a pattern of cute-looking puppies, feeling too groggy to even move a finger and she's softly chewing on a piece of beef jerky.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us, Tzu?" Chaeyoung tilts her head to one side as she looks at her friend. A huge smile lights up her face when she sees how cute Tzuyu looks and she punches Dahyun arm to show her

"I'm not feeling well" Tzuyu says after swallowing her food "Have fun!"

Jeongyeon laughs and it's choked and annoying just like her. She shakes her head from side to side as she steps forward and stretches her arms over her head

"You'll surely have fun"

"Please, have mercy on me" Dahyun prays with her eyes closed and her hands close to her chest. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are laughing out loud at their friend weird attitude "I swear I'm just a poor little wolfie too pure for this world!"

"Oh shut the fuck up" Jeongyeon scoffs and then sits on the ground "I won't be sparring with you guys today but I do want to see your shifts. Chaeng, that's your worst side isn't?"

Chaeyoung sadly nods and sighs, she's about to fuck everything up and right in front of her crush nonetheless. Dahyun snickers and sticks her tongue out at the shorter girl like this is the most fun thing ever. Her friend definitely knows about her crush on Tzuyu and things just HAD to go bad for Chaeyoung!

"All right, I want you to shift"

Jeongyeon command it's rough and heavy and Chaeyoung knows that the fun part just ended. This isn't a joke anymore

"I don't know how" her voice comes out small. Dahyun burst into a fit of giggles, Jeongyeon lifts her eyebrows and Tzuyu pulls another beef jerky from a plastic bag

"What?" Jeongyeon stands up and walks right in front of Chaeyoung like a drill sergeant about to humillate a soldier "Then how did you shift the previous times? You've done it before!"

"Yeah! But I just pushed all the buttons, unnie! I don't know how!"

Dahyun finally laughs out loud, so hard that she falls to the ground. Jeongyeon sighs and sits on the ground again, falling down with her legs wide open and her hands covering her face. Chaeyoung feels a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks. This had to be the most embarassing day of her life, even more that when she wore a pair of mismatching socks and Momo showed them to everybody. Tzuyu is the only one who isn't laughing at her and the shorter girl feels some sort of relief at this, at least Tzuyu has a bit of pity for her

"You have to concentrate, Chaeng" Tzuyu says and lifts a finger up to her chin, thinking hard "Momo-unnie said that you have to put your mind on something you love"

"Aww come on!" Dahyun whines "And what the hell does Momo-unnie love? Jokbal? Ramen?"

"Maybe that blondie hunter" Chaeyoung forgets her embarassment and giggles along her friend. Jeongyeon follows the joke but eventually sits up and looks at Chaeyoung with a serious face

"Momo is right, Chaeng. You need to have something on your mind as you shift. Not necessary something you love but more like a purpose"

"A purpose?"

"Yeah!" Tzuyu follows the alpha words "Something like...I don't know..._I gotta catch that squirrell!_"

Dahyun laughs again, clutching at her sides

"That always gets me going! Thanks for the reminder, Tzutzu"

Tzuyu blushes in shame and Chaeyoug kicks Dahyun, _hard_. Her friend whimpers and grabs her sore shin before pouting and crossing her arms. They stare at each other for a long while before Jeongyeon gets in the middle of them and towers over Chaeyoung, pointing a finger at her like a mother scolding her child

"Both of you need to stop playing and get serious. Hunters are well...hunting us, 24 hours a day so you better get your shit together and try to shift for one time"

Chaeyoung feels awful again, she takes a deep breath and looks at the ground

"Just think of something pretty!" Dahyun teases her and she continues "Something that starts with a T and ends in a U" she is almost laughing now. Chaeyoung frowns at her "Something that you're crushing so hard on but you're too much of a coward!"

_'Holy fuck I really want to kick Dahyun in the face!'_

And then, like its pure magic, Chaeyoung body is surrounded by smoke. A dark brown wolf comes out of it and quickly pounces on Dahyun who screams and tries to get away from the small bites that her friend is trying to give her. Dahyun shifts at the drop of a hat and both wolves are chasing each other through the frontyard of their cabin like two excited puppies. Tzuyu laughs and cheers for any of her friends while Jeongyeon just looks at them with an amused face. Chaeyoung is the first one to get tired and she falls to the ground on her human form, breathing heavily and with arms wide open looking at the sky. Dahyun golden wolf prances around her, licking her face once in a while and running around in circles

"It wasn't so hard, wasn't it?" Jeongyeon says to Chaeyoung who just shakes her head

"I feel like I just ran a marathon"

"It feels like that during your first shifts, your body then gets used to it and you'll be just fine"

"Nice job, Chaeng!" Tzuyu says with her hands around her mouth "You're awesome!"

Chaeyoung quickly sits up and waves at her crush. Jeongyeon looks at Chaeyoung, then at Tzuyu, then at Chaeyoung again and she laughs at the obvious crush that this two have on each other. She wonders when they will talk. Life can be a little short when you're in danger all the time thanks to a bunch of freaks who are trying to kill you because you're different...Jeongyeon feels nice when she forgets about all the implications behind this training and everything in between: This is to survive, keep them alive

And it's sickening

Just when she's about to tease the girls. She hears a soft crunching of leaves in the distance and the flowery scent fills her nostrils one more time. It's not as strong as yesterday. Dahyun is the only one who also hears the crunching

"What was that? Is that Momo-unnie?" The girl asks. Jeongyeon shakes her head

"No, I'll go check. Stay safe"

Jeongyeon shifts and her red wolf runs towards the forest. The more she runs, the stronger the flowery scent is and she's hypnotized by it. There's thousands of smells and sounds around her but for some reasons she can only hear and smell that, she keeps running towards that addicting scent that won't leave. Jeongyeon is so focused on running that she can't see the girl in front of her and she ends up tackling her to the ground, falling on top of her body and with their eyes looking at each other. She immediatly remembers the only pair of blue eyes from before, it's the hunter girl that was in Sana unit just yesterday

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'll be better if you get off"

"Oh! Sorry again..."

Jeongyeon gets up, now in her human form and looks at the girl. She's breathtaking, beautiful, there is no trace of imperfection on her face and Jeongyeon realizes she might be falling face first for a girl that's supposed to be her worst enemy. This isn't right, it doesn't feel right even when she knows there's no written rule that forbids her of talking to this girl  
Then reality hits her hard. Like a tide. Like a bucket of cold water

Her father talked about it before, back when he was still around and Jeongyeon was nothing more than a cute little girl and it was so long ago that Jeongyeon barely remembers: a bond, a _blood bond_ he said, every wolf gets it at some point of their lives. They're tied to someone else, someone that they call a _liege_, bonded to them forever they turn into soulmates and once they meet, the wolf only purpose in life it's their liege. They live, breathe, fight and die for them. In exchange, the wolf senses are sharpened and they become almost _invincible_. Jeongyeon remembers that, in her innocence, she was excited for meeting her liege

But this can't be right...

This girl can't be...

The wolf gets up and offers her hand to Mina. She grabs it and their eyes meet again, this time Jeongyeon narrows them and covers her nose with the back of her hand because the flowery scent just became unbearable

"You were here yesterday, don't you?" Jeongyeon says "You're a hunter"

"I am and you must be...Jeongyeon, right? The alpha"

Jeongyeon takes a few steps back and she's no longer covering her nose. It's too sweet, just like Momo said before. Another flashback of her dad voice comes to her: the liege scent is strong so the wolf would never lose track of them, its stronger than anything else. Nothing can top their liege. The hunter girl surely notices her discomfort and Jeongyeon tries to solve things

"It's just that..." Jeongyeon starts "Your scent is really strong, I-I don't like it"

"Why? Is it that bad?" _Yes_

"No, no! Just turn around, please. Leave. I can't take it"

"I swear to god that I bathed yesterday"

"It's not that! It's too _fucking_ sweet!"

The hunter takes a few steps back and raises her hands up in the air. Jeongyeon nods as she sees the hunter walking away

"Good, I'll leave. I'm near the border anyways. Pleasure to meet you again, Jeongyeon"

"Hey! What's your name?" She gotta have at least a name. Her eyes aren't enough. Her scent isn't enough

"Mina!" _Mina, Mina. It has a nice ring_

"All right!"

Mina gets lost in the forest and Jeongyeon is left staring at her back. Her head is full of thoughts and she just wants to die at the sheer strength of this cruel reality: her worse enemy is meant to be her soulmate

Fate is laughing hard at her right now

* * *

Sana jumped back, evading a claw from Momo. The hunter's body pushed forward almost at the same time it went back and the edge of her knife barely brushed past a few hairs of Momo's fur without managing to do her any harm. The wolf took a few steps back, trying to stay away from danger

Momo breathed rapidly while rubbing her eyes with the back of her paw. There were a couple of wounds under her fur that burned with every drop of sweat but nothing was too serious when her regeneration process was so fast. However, her body was reaching its limits. She could feel it in the uncontrolled heartbeats echoing in her ears and the puffs of air that were getting longer and longer, each time burning more after entering her lungs.

And Sana was intact. She didn't even look tired. There wasn't a single wound on her whole body. The most drastic change she had was her black uniform full of dirt spots

They had been fighting for hours, from the middle of the morning until the sky was covered with the colors of sunset. The wolf's pride made her not stop fighting but it was too much and even pride itself told her that. Without her wanting it, her body began to return to its human form and Momo collapsed to the floor with arms and legs outstretched, screaming for a much needed rest. There were days when she completely forgot that she was supposed to have a human side way more fragile than her wolf form

Momo looked at the sky while trying to calm her ragged breaths and her racing heart. Sana let out a laugh after the girl finally gave up and spun her knife over the palm of her hand, tucking it in a small sheath that was tied to her boot.

"Is that enough for now, Momo?"

Pride went back to pump adrenaline through the girl's body. Momo tried to get up again by leaning on one of her knees only to fall on her back once more and growl with fury at the frustration of losing against a hunter

"Fuck...I really want to kick your ass but I can't move"

Sana giggled and walked towards her, offering a hand

"Come on, let's go back to the camp"

Momo didn't hesitate a moment to take it right now that she didn't have enough confidence in her legs to stand up on her feet. As soon as she got up, her whole body complained with fatigue but she held it back as best she could and started walking just behind Sana.

The way back to the camp was complete silence that Momo was thankful for mainly because she had no conversation topic with Sana but mostly because of the nature around her; the sounds of the forest that surrounded the camp were mesmerizing and filled her with calm. She never had time to admire those small signs of life and the enchantment of the landscapes in this world, now that she could, she looked at them like a treasure chest filled with gold

The camp was fully illuminated by the time they returned, the night had finally been drawn over the clear sky. The flow of people was much slower than a few hours ago. Momo kept following Sana as if she was the main guide, like the light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout the day, she was driven to Sana like a fly to a lamp. The chocolate scent didn't even bother her by this point

The silence remained even as they approached a tent that looked familiar to Momo. Sana lifted the heavy plastic with which the tents were made and let out a long sigh. Momo stayed right behind her trying to see what was going on.

Mina was lying on her bed, shuffling through some pages of a magazine and eating from a tray. When she saw Sana she greeted with her hand

"Hey! Long time no see, dinner is ready for everybody so you two should check it out...and then take a bath, Sana you're all sweaty"

"Where are Nayeon and Jihyo?" Sana says as Momo peeks from the top of her head

"Dunno, maybe eating? They've been out since afternoon after someone used the tent 12 but I'm grounded"

Sana frowns

"Grounded? What did you-? Anyways, I'll be back soon"

Sana turned around and made a sign with her hand for Momo to follow her. Momo pretended not to see and peaked her head inside the tent, Mina waved at her and Momo did the same with a soft smile

"Momo" Sana spoke with a firm voice and broke the girl's thoughts "Come on"

The wolf said nothing more and followed Sana closely. In her mind Momo only recorded the scene she'd just seen... if the hunters were such heartless beings as they all said, then why Mina was acting like a normal girl and why Sana was so _soft_ around her? It wasn't simply a 'leader's job'. Why did she spare Chaeyoung's life in the forest? She could've pulled the trigger when she wanted to but she didn't. Those were things that left Momo so confused, she couldn't really understand them

Not even as she followed Sana once more as a puppy follows its owner before eating

"What was Mina talking about?" Curiosity won over Momo and she couldn't contain her question no matter how hard she tried to. "That stuff about the tent 12 or something..."

Sana didn't stop walking to an indefinite point and neither answered Momo's question. They arrived at a well-lit open area with tables and trays full of food, just then the wolf forgot all of her doubts, she cared little about the situation while her stomach growled violently. In the midst of all the disaster that had been her last two days she completely forgot she hadn't tasted a proper meal after burning all her strength on the field and surely her body was already begging for food

"This is the dining room, Momo. You can take what you want as long as it's time to eat, when you finish, you're free to go. Thanks for today by the way" Sana finished with a wink and a cute gesture while Momo tilted her head in confusion

Without saying more, Sana took another turn and left. Momo stayed in that kind of newly discovered paradise for her. She ran to the trays and took a clean plate to start serving everything that was there without taking in mind that there were other people lining up, people who lived there and obviously had more authority than her. It was then when someone pushed her just as she was about to finish serving, all the contents of her plate were thrown on the floor and Momo just looked at them angrily

"Get out of here, dirty wolf" someone spoke with a threatening voice among the people around her. Momo didn't pay much attention and pushed the voice to the back of her head and instead took a new plate to serve herself a new amount of food. Perhaps if she was distracted by the fury of her stomach then it would be easier to calm down the wild howl of the inner wolf

"Here, this food is already served and clean"

A plate almost full of food appeared in front of Momo and she took it carefully, staring at the person who had delivered it. It was a woman only a few inches taller than her, with long dark hair and eyes as blue as the sky itself, the features of her face perfectly defined with such symmetry that one could immediately make out her special selection of genes. She wore casual clothes: a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants and shoes of the same color

Momo narrowed her eyes because for some reason the image felt like a deja vu

"I think I know you... you were with the wolf they captured" Momo spoke almost in a whisper. The alarms in her brain went off, specially after the warning Sana had given her

The woman grimaced and then nodded a couple of times. Momo couldn't ignore how her face distorted into a expression of sadness as soon as she spoke about the wolf. Maybe the perfection of her face made her unable to hide anything

"Yes, I was with them. My name is Park Sooyoung" she made a slight bow "Some people can behave like assholes here but you shouldn't pay attention to them"

Momo's survival instinct screamed that she shouldn't continue the conversation with that girl. She was part of the velvet unit, it wasn't a joke... Sana herself had said that they were completely dehumanized people but the woman in front of her didn't look threatening or dangerous. She looked like a person capable of establishing a good relationship with anyone  
Momo flipped a metaphorical coin in the air, risking everything

And ignored Sana

"Don't worry, with time it's easy to get used to it" Momo walked to one of the tables with her plate of food. Sooyoung followed her closely and sat in front of her at the same table

"You are with Sana, right?"

"Well yes... so it seems. We were training all day" Momo began to devour from her plate without control, leaving all the manners she had learned lying at some point of time. She spoke with her mouth still full of food "I'm too damn drained"

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow at Momo's antics

"So it seems, you're devouring your food" Sooyoung kept her eyebrow up and took the cutlery to eat

"I had days without eating anything, I'm sorry" Momo continued chewing uncontrollably, her mouth wide open. Sooyoung frowned and decided that it was best to completely ignore the attitude of that very happy girl, she began to eat without saying another word

They spent a few more minutes in silence until Sooyoung broke the ice

"What did Sana bring you here for? Where the hell did she find you anyways?"

Momo wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shrugged. She was telling the whole truth to Sana and she didn't know why the hell she had been brought here

"I don't know why I'm here, Sana found me and my pack in the forest but I don't know why the hell she wants me around"

"Wait" Sooyoung raised a hand in the air "You are part of a pack?"

"Yup. We live at the south side of the forest"

Sooyoung remained silent and nodded a couple of times. She rested her hands on the table and kept them in a completely thoughtful pose, her ocean-colored gaze losing itself between the plate full of food and the details of the wood. Momo raised an eyebrow (while chewing with an open mouth) when she saw Sooyoung's attitude

"Since I shared something with you" Momo interrupted the train of thought of the hunter "Don't you think you should tell me something too?"

Sooyoung stuck her back to the back of the chair and placed her hands on her lap

"What do you want to know?"

"What is the tent 12?"

The hunter's body tensed but then let out a long sigh. With it, all the physiological responses of her tension were gone

"Who told you about that? Sana?"

Apparently that place wasn't as friendly as Momo thought. She decided to take the conversation cautiously to get the most out of it... Sana wasn't yet someone she trusted and Sooyoung could give her information good enough to keep up with the hunters activities

"I only heard of that while coming here" Momo shrugged

"It's a place inside the camp" Sooyoung started and crossed her arms "Only hunters in training can go there accompanied by other hunters and a doctor. It is the place where we get our genes modified and our emotions are erased"

Momo lost her appetite suddenly

"Erase emotions?"

"Yes. The purity of the soul they call it. See our eyes?" Sooyoung leaned forward so Momo could take a better look "The clearer your eyes, the weaker you are. There is a huge machine inside there that projects different memories that have the purpose of causing an emotion in you. When the machine finds brain activity related to emotion, it erases a part of it. It practically 'numbs' you and you won't feel that emotion with the same intensity as before"

The wolf was now interested to the fullest. Sana never talked about that "purity of the soul" and she heard that hunters were modded humans but Momo never thought it would reach such an extreme point. The hunter creation program appeared to be such a glory from the outside but inside it showed its darkness and pure manipulation.

"Erasing an emotion is a process that takes many years and they shouldn't be deleted in a single session so the doctor should regulate the process. If someone tries to erase the emotion in one go then it will hurt its body" Sooyoung took a breath and began to list various consequences with her hand. "Convulsions, severe pain, loss of consciousness, nose and ears bleeding, high fever... I don't know, the list is eternal"

Momo kept silent

"You aren't allowed to enter that place. No matter what"

"Don't worry, I won't... it doesn't sound very fun"

"It's not a joke" Sooyoung's voice turned threatening.

"Now that you know what that is, mind your own business. That's a place only for hunters"

Momo nodded like a scolded child

She didn't ask anything to Sooyoung anymore

* * *

It was late at night when Momo came back home. No one was waiting for her outside the cabin but, as soon as she opened the door, she found Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu all together in the couch and Jeongyeon sitting by the table. Momo smiled at the three young pups and let out a sigh. Jeongyeon lifted her hand in the air to greet her

"Hey there...how was your first day as a lap dog?"

Momo pouts

"I'm no lap dog, Jeong. It was fine by the way. Sana isn't that much...of a hunter"

Jeongyeon moved her head towards the front door and Momo nodded, she knew her friend wanted to talk about something but it rather be in private so she stepped outside and waited for her by the steps. Jeongyeon sat beside her with her legs crossed and eyes deeply focused on the forest in front of them. It was so quiet today; no howling in the distance, no gunshots, no battle just the sound of the animals and the night breeze. Silence wasn't awkward for them, silence between the older two usually meant trust and a short space to rearrange their thoughts before speaking

"I think I found my liege"

Momo looked at her friend with eyes wide open

"What?"

"Yeah, that"

"Holy shit"

"I know"

Silence. There was some ruffling inside the cabin and then the front door opened. Chaeyoung poked her head outside cutely, with eyes closed and a sleepy voice

"We're going to sleep now, Jeongyeon-unnie"

"All right"

"Night, night Momo-unnie!"

"Night, night Chae. Sleep tight"

The door closed, Dahyun whine echoed all over the place and Tzuyu dragged her slippers across the rug one time after another. Silence followed one more time and Momo finally found the strength to continue talking with her closest friend. She heard about the liege before, it was a rather popular topic between wolves. Like some of those gossip magazines that Dahyun once brought from the town that was two days away from their camp. Momo never believed in it, she never believed in soulmates or lieges and the thought of becoming (practically) a slave wasn't that exciting for her but she knew that, if it really was true, it was something that she couldn't control. No matter how much she refused to the blood bond it would eventually happen

"How do you know it was your liege?"

"Are you dumb?" Jeongyeon sounds frustrated no matter how mean her words are "You know nothing about that? It was the smell...she was completely different to everyone else"

Momo gulped. _The smell?_

"Who is it?" Momo asks, careful of not making Jeongyeon a little more angry than what she already is. An angry wolf is like a fuzzy toddler: they won't stop unless they get what they want

"Remember that hunter group from yesterday? She's called Mina, the only girl with blue eyes"

Suddenly, the "purity of the soul" thing comes to Momo's mind: That means this "Mina" girl is on the first stage of genetic modification so she's no real danger and right there is when Momo gets the real problem: Mina is a hunter, their natural enemy. Fate must be having a blast right now with all these troubles it is creating. Out of every single person out there, their liege had to be hunters

Because, by now, Momo is completely sure that Sana is her own liege

That's why she couldn't hurt her back then when they were training. That's why Sana barely broke a sweat. She was the one in charge and Momo her loyal servant

She just turned into a slave

"So it's a hunter..." Momo barely whispers, more for her than for everyone else

"It is and I can fucking believe it!" Jeongyeon stands up and faces Momo like she's the only real reason behind her problems "She's my _enemy_ how can I be the servant of my enemy?"

Momo doesn't know what to say, she's almost trembling at this point as her mind races with memories from today: Sana and her inhuman speed, Sana and her incredible agility but also her own speed, her own agility, her own resistance to pain and bullets. It was like she suddenly got a boost in all of her senses. Momo was as invincible as Sana when they were together, they were meant to be...and here it is when that 'soulmate' bullshit comes into scene. Momo hates it. She hates it as much as feeling empty when she looks straight at Sana grey eyes

Grey eyes?

_"The clearer your eyes, the weaker you are_"

Sana is the strongest hunter out there?

But Momo isn't the strongest wolf in her pack. That's Jeongyeon. Because she's older, wiser, stronger and the daughter of their original alpha. Why did fate matched her, a simple wolf, with the strongest hunter?

_To complement each other_

"Fuck off..." Momo mumbles, Jeongyeon looks at her with a raised eyebrow

"What did you say?"

"No, no!" The black wolf shakes her hands from side to side "It wasn't meant for you! I was just thinking out loud..."

Jeongyeon sighs and closes her eyes, she lifts her head up to the sky and it looks as captivating as a wolf howling with the moon just behind their backs. The alpha looks at her friend one more time without a drop of anger or frustration in her eyes

"Tell me, Momo...didn't you say something about Sana having this intense sweet scent?"

_Oh no, oh no, oh no_

"What about it?" Momo gets defensive. Maybe that's a nice way of dismissing Jeongyeon concerns "Are you trying to tell me that I have the same bad luck as you and that blondie is my liege?"

"What?" Jeongyeon seems confused by Momo sudden attack "No! I was just asking"

"Well, stop it. I don't want to be tied to a fucking hunter...should I remind you what those monsters did to us?"

And maybe the black wolf crossed the line, maybe she just touched a really, _really_ sensible spot inside Jeongyeon because the next minute, the alpha is grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and angry, yellow eyes look at her own without any sense of danger. Momo feels her own rage boiling in her veins, it's a natural response to wolves but she immediatly keeps it under control. No matter how angry Jeongyeon is, she's still her best friend and the alpha. Momo needs to hold back the growling beast inside of her

"If I could break the damn thing, I would!" Jeongyeon snarls "But you know well how that stuff works! Until death does us apart, remember?"

Momo weakly nods and falls on her back when Jeongyeon drops her to the ground. Shaking her head and dusting off her clothes, Momo sits up

"Jeong...you can't push those feelings away" _Says who? The black wolf who's hiding her own liege?_ "It's our nature...like howling or hunting. We can't fight it"

Jeongyeon growls and kicks the dirt under her feet. Silence fills the frontyard and for the first time in a long while, it is awkward

"I'm going for a walk" Jeongyeon says "You go to sleep or something"

Momo nods and finally gets up from the ground before walking inside the cabin and turning off every light in it. Jeongyeon buries her hands in her pockets and walks towards the deep, dark forest. Her mind is full of a bunch of things and where could she start? There's no real beginning and the only thing that's clear it's that she can't escape fate no matter how much she swims against the current.

Hunters are their natural enemy.

But Mina doesn't feel like it and the only thing Jeongyeon can think of its the faint remains of her scent left in the forest trail and her own clothes


	3. Heal

Seulgi woke up to the beeping of a machine and an oxygen mask on top of her mouth helping her breathe. Her eyes scanned around: white plastic walls that belong to a tent, about six to seven beds with equally pure sheets on top of them all of them empty. Machines that check heartbeats, oxygen tanks, needles, medicines...she definitely knows this is some kind of hospital or rather a clinic judging by the size of it. She sits up in the bed and takes a look at her own body, the fresh wounds of the bullets she took some hours ago are still fresh and they hurt every time she breathes. She's incredibly hungry, so much that her stomach feels like an unstoppable void but there's not much she can do other than wait. There's a scent floating around her, it's confusing but lovely: a mix between coconut and hibiscus, it's strong and captivating and she immediatly knows who it belongs to

The front opening of the tent moves slowly and, from it, Joohyun shows up with a tray full of all kinds of food. Seulgi mouth waters at the sight and she instantly rips the oxygen mask away from her face. However, Joohyun looks at her with eyes wide open, Seulgi lifts an eyebrow and checks herself one more time only to flash a happy smile at the hunter: her wounds are completely healed, there's not even a scar left behind. Joohyun walks towards her with careful steps and leaves the tray of food on top of Seulgi's legs covered by the white sheet, she runs the tip of her fingers along Seulgi stomach and the younger giggles out loud like an excited toddler

"Hyun, stop it!" she says in a happy tone "I'm really ticklish!"

"They just...healed" Joohyun says and looks straight at Seulgi's golden eyes "Why?"

"Because you're my liege?" Seulgi tilts her head to one side and places a finger on her chin "Dunno, maybe it's just the usual healing?"

"It's too fast, you know? Even for you" The hunter grabs paper and pencil from a nearby table and writes down all the changes she just noticed. Seulgi is a powerful wolf, maybe the most dangerous out of her kind but this is something out of this world and Joohyun can't understand it even when she dedicated her whole life to the research of this species, always bringing new subjects to her table so she could experiment on them. Wolves definitely are the gift that keeps on giving

"Can I eat?" Seulgi says with a pout, making grabby hands towards the tray. Joohyun giggles and pats her head, pushing the tray towards her and nodding

"You really are hungry, huh? Sorry for starving you"

"It's okay" the wolf replies, her mouth full of food "I'm fine as long as you're here"

"Please chew before you talk, thank you" Joohyun sits besides her on the bed and looks at her with curious eyes. Seulgi does the same and smiles as soon as their eyes meet. They're just the same, Joohyun's eyes shine with the same shade of gold as hers every time they look at each other. Seulgi still doesn't know what she did to be this lucky in life after losing almost everything, even her original pack "I'm sorry for the bullet wounds and the electric necklace, you know it had to be done so I could bring you here" Joohyun leans forward and places a soft kiss on Seulgi round cheek, the wolf stops eating and looks at her with a serious face, something that's just not common in her

"I know that...but now what? I'm staying inside here forever?"

"No" Joohyun shakes her head "I covered your face when we brought you from the forest and besides, only wolves can trace you by your scent, right?"

Seulgi sighs and softly shakes her head

"Sana's unit can trace me too, they're just like your girls"

"Sana is no real danger for us. We can just pretend you're any other hunter"

Silence follows soon, Seulgi eats a bit more from the food tray and pushes it towards an empty table so she can get closer to Joohyun, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The hunter immediatly seeks her warmth and leans her head on her shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying this brief moment of absolute peace. Around Seulgi she's not a hunter nor the captain of any unit, not even the best of her class, she's just Joohyun: her soulmate, her liege and maybe the only person Seulgi has left in the world

"Who was that wolf with Sana?" Seulgi asks "Their scent is too familiar for me, I'm sure I know them but I couldn't see their face"

"I don't know the name either but Sooyoung told me they belong to a pack not too far from here. They live near the border between north and south, we might have to capture them soon"

"More wolves? Haven't you had enough?" The wolf sounds angry and Joohyun can only shrink in her spot. She might be stronger and smarter than Seulgi but she's not her enemy "Joohyun...I love you but you do know that I'm hunting my own kind, right?"

Joohyun nods and hides her face in the crook of Seulgi shoulder, one of her hands wraps around the wolf torso

"I'm sorry, it's just that..."

"What?"

"Your pack lived near the border too, at least that's what you told me. Maybe you finally found them"

Seulgi sighs and tries to push back the hot tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. A lone wolf can't survive for much more than a few weeks so it's a wonder than Seulgi is still alive right now. The happy memories of those days are too blurry even at this point when she learned to ignore the trauma of it all. Fire, screams, wolves fightning hunters, death...it all comes like those thunders Joohyun is so afraid of. Maybe she keeps quiet for too long because Joohyun is now grabbing one side of her face and forcing her to look into her eyes one more time. Seulgi can only pray that tears don't betray her

"I was 12 the last time I saw them, Hyun. They must be dead by now and even more if your kind choose to hunt them"

"We can always investigate, okay? Don't lose hope"

Seulgi nods and sticks her forehead to Joohyun's, closing her eyes and basking in the sense of security it brings.

Maybe she needs to check on that pack

* * *

Jihyo walked slowly across the forest, she can easily hear four wolves surrounding her like she's about to be their next prey. Her eyes catch a glimpse of four-legged shadows around her, she can hear them panting and trying to be quiet with those huge bodies of theirs. Nayeon is just one step in front of her, holding tight to that black hunting rifle she loves so much, Jihyo has her own gun much more smaller since it's easier to maneuver once in battle

Nayeon turns her head and looks at her, she lifts up two fingers and points at herself then lifts up two more and points at Jihyo. The younger nods: she can easily take on two wolves even with her eyes closed, it's just a matter of patience, being smart. Jihyo tries to remember all the things Sana taught her before, all the times her captain made a battle look like an everyday thing

These wolves aren't feral, they're a pack so it means they work more organized than the others. Nayeon stays still, Jihyo does the same and they wait. In the middle of the day, the forest won't work as a hideout for long so...

And then it happens. One of the wolves comes from between the trees and jumps at them. Jihyo is fast and quickly shoots them in the chest, another wolf comes from behind her back and she dodges its sharp claws. Nayeon shoots her rifle one time hitting one , then another shot and she takes refuge to reload. Jihyo makes sure to keep her own wolf ocuppied with a stun grenade, pulling out the key with her teeth and throwing it in the open mouth of the roaring beast

The wolf howls and falls to the ground while the rest seem confused an disoriented by the powerful buzzing sound echoing all over the forest. Jihyo knows she has little time before more hunters (or wolves, it's impossible to know) come to their spot. Taking out the used barrell of her revolver-like gun, she points at the stunned wolf and shoots one time then points at another one behind her and repeats the same process. Both beast are down in the blink of an eye. Nayeon reloads just in time for the other wolves to come back from the stunning effect and they get shot like their partners: one in the chest and the other in a leg.

The hunters let out a sigh and look at each other for a brief time. There’s no claws crunching the leaves or heavy boots making a mess. It seems they’re safe

Nayeon pulls out a radio

“Yo Sana, we have a pack right here: four wolves. Isn’t that the one Park Sooyoung talked about the other day?”

There’s white noise, the radio blares with a response

_“Is there a feral among them?”_

“No” Nayeon replies and takes a look at the fallen beasts. All of them have brown fur or a lighter color “No feral”

_“What about a red wolf?”_

“No, they’re all brown”

_“Are they dead?”_

Nayeon takes a look at Jihyo, nervous. Nobody ordered them to bring back this beasts alive, they just said hunt them and that’s it. Jihyo looks around and then shakes her head a few times, she sheets her gun on her holster close to her boot and walks towards one of the wolves, the one she stunned before. They whimper and try to get up but are too weak to do so

“They’re alive”

_“Leave them, they’re not our objective. Forget about the pack Sooyoung talked about, we’re looking for a group of ferals. Momo and I are joining you soon, keep your head up”_

Jihyo sighs. She looks dissapointed as she takes a knee on the ground and carefully inspects her body for any injuries even when she knows the wolves couldn’t even get close to her. Nayeon cuts any communication and lets out a frustrated growl while she shoves the radio back in her pocket. She spares a glance towards the wolves one more time, they seem too weak compared to other times when they had to fight

“Are we really following those orders?” Nayeon says, crossing her arms and straping her rifle to her back “Are we REALLY letting wolves live?!”

“That’s our boss right there, Nayeon” Jihyo replies in a deep voice, she sits on the ground and lets out a shaky breath “I can’t believe her either but Sana knows what she’s doing, that’s why she’s the leader, remember?”

Nayeon scoffs

“You’re just crushing on her too fucking hard, that’s why you say that”

Jihyo raises an eyebrow

“What in the world are you saying?”

“I said that Sana is a shitty leader! Maybe if she was as ruthless as Joohyun then we could take the velvet unit title since a long time ago!”

Standing up and with her hand never leaving her gun handle, Jihyo faces her oldest partner and looks straight into her eyes. Nayeon might be Sana second in command but that doesn’t mean Jihyo is afraid of her, specially when she knows her since they were two little kids waiting to be trained

“Are you jealous? Do you want Sana's title?”

Nayeon frowns

“Fuck no. I’m just stating the truth and you better believe it, Park Jihyo! You love Sana since a long time ago and those feelings will drag you down”

“And what about _your_ feelings for me?! Do you think I don’t know about them?!”

Nayeon could’ve answered if it wasn’t for the _furious_ growl that came from the forest. She quickly grabbed her rifle while Jihyo pulled her gun. The growl turned into panting and a loud howl ripped the wind apart. Both hunters looked at each other for a brief moment, confusion in their eyes and braced themselves as the crunching of leaves multiplied and quickly approached them. They were too fast...

“Watch out!” A foreign voice screamed from behind them “Those are ferals! Get out! Run!”

Jihyo immediately knew that advice wasn’t meant for them when the hurt wolves in the ground quickly got up and ran in all different directions. Three wolves suddenly surrounded them, foaming at the mouth and with bloodshot eyes, their furs dirty and grey, claws covered in dirty. Completely different from what they saw before

A bullet went past them, barely missing Nayeon left ear, and it hit a feral right in the head. All of the monsters went crazy, immediately looking for the source and pouncing on Jihyo and Nayeon who shot at them with no accuracy, too nervous to care about their training

“Get your shit together, you two!” Sana screamed as she pulled her gun and shot one of them another time, missing it by mere inches “You wanna die?!”

The black wolf they saw before at the wolves camp ran at full speed and jumped over their heads, grabbing one feral by the neck and pushing them towards the forest one more time. Momo followed Sana moves, like she was her guide and textbook for this fight while Jihyo and Nayeon could only watch: the perfect harmony between them, helping each other and moving like they were dancing. Sana never missed a shot and Momo covered her back time after time, keeping her own kind at bay

One feral fell down after being shot in the leg, Momo immediately bit its neck and ripped it apart. Blood spilled everywhere, some of it covering Nayeon and Jihyo in the face. The black wolf looked at them with fiery eyes before spitting the remaining pieces of flesh and fur to the ground

“Momo! Here comes another one!”

Jumping from a tree, the feral tried to claw at Momo. Sana shot it in the chest two times before Momo grabbed one of its front paws with her mouth, breaking it in half as the beast howled in pain. Sana shot it in the head putting an end to their misery and Momo went back to her human form, resting on the ground and panting heavily. The last feral hid in the dark where nobody could see it, Sana thought she killed it before with a shot in the head. Slowly, it stalked the blonde hunter and with sharp claws waited for the right moment to attack

“Sana! Watch out!” Nayeon screamed and she hoped that her leader was fast enough to dodge the claws

But the strike never came

Momo got in the middle

Three deep cuts bloomed across her chest with flesh and blood falling to the ground, coating it in a crimson shade. Sana stares in shock while Momo holds her chest with both hands, falling to her knees

“Shoot it!” The black wolf shouts and Sana snaps out of her daze, a blast of her gun blows the feral brains out and they fall in a lifeless form

Momo is face up on the ground, she chokes on her blood and coughs it out. She takes long, deep puffs of air as it gets more and more difficult to breathe. Jihyo runs to her side, trying to help but her hands seem to be useless against a problem of this size. Sana quickly pulls Momo up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders

"Hold on, let me take you to Mina. She's a great doctor"

More blood comes out of Momo's mouth and her voice is dry

"I'll...heal..."

"Let me take you there" Sana looks at her subordinates and makes a sign with her hand.

Nayeon and Jihyo protect them along the way while Sana worriedly looks at Momo: she's getting pale and her eyes close every now and then. The camp is just a few meters away from them when she feels Momo's grip on her arm slowly getting weaker

"Hey, hey!" Sana shouts, a desperate cry that makes Jihyo turn around and stop walking "Don't you die on me, Momo! We're close!"

The front door of the camp opens and Sana rushes with an unconscious Momo towards the tent where Mina is. Mina is shocked by the bloody scene in front of her eyes as soon as the leader places Momo on the bed she normally uses

"Come on, Minari. Work your magic"

Nayeon feels useless when she sees the way Mina pushes away all of her fears and helps her leader and she wishes she could be as brave as the younger is, she wishes she had at least a tiny bit of her cold blood, maybe she wouldn't feel anything towards Jihyo...

Mina quickly takes some medical instruments from her night table and cuts Momo's bloody shirt open. Her hands shake as she checks on the gushing, angry cuts that keep bleeding but she takes a syringe from her instruments and injects it into Momo's body a total of three times, one time for each cut. Sana is watching closely, her arms crossed across her chest as if she's hugging herself and she anxiously taps her foot on the ground

When Mina turns around to grab a clean rag, Jihyo gasps and moves closer to Momo while Sana just frowns

“Mina…what kind of sorcery did you do?”

“Huh?” The younger rushes to Jihyo side and opens her eyes wide at _that_ “I didn't do anything, unnie…I swear”

Sana finally sees it

Momo is healing. _Quickly_ healing. The cuts close together like there was nothing there, skin stitching together against more skin and sealing everything with a metaphorical fire. Sana knows wolves usually heal faster than a normal human, that's why they're difficult to kill and that's why a hunter is taught to shoot them in the head but she had never seen something like this

Just a few seconds after the quick healing, Momo chokes on her blood a second time and spits it out to the side, taking rough breaths until all color comes back to her pale body

Everyone is in shock

Momo looks at Sana through half-lidded eyes with a hand draped across her forehead

“I'll told you I'll heal”

“I've never treated a wolf before but I'm sure that's not normal” Mina whispers and gets closer to Momo. Her chest and abdomen are void of any injuries, not a scar left. Even the blood on her skin and clothes seems dry by now “What did you do?”

Momo shakes her head from side to side

“It's something I can't tell you with all these people here, doc. Maybe if those two left then I can talk to you”

“I'm not leaving!” Nayeon whines “What if you try to hurt them?”

“I can't" Momo continues “But you wouldn't understand, this is something between us three”

Sana is confused but her leader side quickly comes forward

“Do it, both of you. Leave and don't come back until I say so”

Jihyo quickly nods and takes a last, longing look towards Momo. Nayeon scoffs and furiously grabs her gun, storming out of the tent without saying a single word. Momo sits on the bed and tries to cover herself with the remains of her shirt, the hunters eyes feel heavy on her

Blue for Mina (_Pure, weak, not a match for me or anyone in the pack)_ Grey for Sana (_Confusing, maybe dangerous, what does your eyes mean…?_)

“What is this about?” Sana sounds angry “Please, explain before I blow your brains out”

“Have you ever heard of the blood bond?”

Sana shakes her head, Mina nods slowly

"It basically means you're tied to someone” Mina explains to her leader “Its a wolf thing, they turn into servants for as long as the other person needs them”

“That's a brief resume, but yeah…pretty much it” Momo sighs “Bad news for 'ya, dear hunters 'cause Jeongyeon and I are tied to you from now on”

Both hunters gasp. Sana takes a step forward and it's about to grab Momo by the collar of her ripped shirt but she quickly stops herself

“That means…?” Mina mumbles “We are…”

“You are our liege” Momo gaze is fierce as she looks at her enemies “We're at your service”


	4. Bullet

Mina didn't have much to do when there were no missions involved.

She almost always spent her time locked in the tent where she slept and lived next to her _unnies_ most of the day. They went around to advise the recruits or supervise other hunters, they were people of power so they were busy all the time. Their skills on the battlefield gave them all that prestige

But with Mina it was a completely different story because she didn't have the prestige of her superiors or an important rank. She hadn't even managed to complete the genetic modification in all the time she's been at the service of Sana's unit.

The change was scary, having to get rid of all feelings and experiences terrified her more than anything. As a doctor, she'd seen a couple of times the side effects of hunters who didn't manage to survive the genetic modification: absolute madness, total exile... it was like something out of the darkest of fables, those she heard when she was a child and that now (with the passage of time) were gradually lost in her memory

So, while her unnies were busy doing their high-ranking activities, she devoted herself to study more and more about the human body and the complexity which it works: the most modern medical advances, the most efficient treatments, the difference between a wolf and a hunter

Suddenly, wolves were fascinating beings

Perhaps it was because she'd never seen them under the magnifying glass of her interest

Perhaps it was 'cause she was now submerged in what they called a blood bond

Outside some footsteps are heard, her keen ears pick it up. The tent opens but not from the front but from the side and she looks up from her anatomy book to see who it is

Jeongyeon, the red wolf she met a couple of days ago on the forest path, dusts off her clothes and hair

"Wow... I thought they'd greet me with a hail of bullets or something but apparently the guys at the entrance are quite nice after a few punches"

Mina won't say she isn't surprised to see Jeongyeon and even more with the spontaneous entrance she made out of absolute nowhere

"You-" says the hunter "W-what are you doing here?"

"Well... my camp is quite lonely now that Momo is training with Sana and the rest of the girls are wasting their time in the village the humans are building so I tried to go for a walk in the forest and..."

The way Jeongyeon smiles, so confident yet so handsome, makes Mina feel totally confused.

"I got lost"

It'll be very difficult to get rid of the presence of these hunters now that Momo quickly explained that they are bound by an old, ancestral pact.

"Be my guest then" Mina says sarcastically "Do you want some tea?"

"No thanks. It's very kind of you but I think I'll pass for now...dunno how good you're with poison and stuff"

Jeongyeon slowly walked in circles around the tent, looking at it carefully up and down. There wasn't much to carry in her mind…everything was white and meaningless. The stuff not colored in white was black and her eyes felt attacked by the lack of colors

Her gaze rested on Mina's: blue like the sky in a summer day, like the sea and the sapphires, even like fire when it stops burning

The only color in the whole tent

"Where are the others?" asks the wolf curiously "I thought you were a unit or something like that"

"They work on their things and I work on mine" Mina holds up the book she's been reading for a couple of hours by now "Being the youngest sometimes has its perks"

"Maybe yes, maybe no. I couldn't tell you for sure. I'm the oldest of my pack"

“It is easy to see you know? You protect them, you're their leader, the alpha...but I thought the alpha stayed at the back of the pack to take care of it from any danger"

Jeongyeon nods slowly, walks until she comes across the rifle that she saw Mina use the day they met at the forest and realizes it has a carefully carved design throughout the wood that composes it.

“The alpha isn't a leader, contrary to popular belief. We're simply those that the pack follows but we don't control or tell them what to do... we are just their guides"

Mina nods, she absorbs all the new information because she loves learning and Jeongyeon is too interesting to ignore what she says the way she ignores Nayeon for example

"How did you find me?"

The wolf taps her own nose twice

"Your scent, Mina"

There's a silence between the two. A brief one

"Have you played chess before?" Jeongyeon is the one who breaks the pause

"Yes, many times"

"How about we play a match one of these days? In a quiet place"

And Mina believes their relationship now is just like being in the center of a chessboard. Both are cautious, both wait, both try to guess what movement they'll do next and how they can corner each other

But in the end, it's just a strategy game. There's not a real war or conflict between the two

They just want to know what's on their mind

"I would love to"

Outside there is a huge commotion, Mina frowns while Jeongyeon sharpens her senses as much as she can to try and identify any danger. She hears footsteps, fast approaching the tent but no one opens the front and they just walk further and further away. Mina ignores her book and Jeongyeon and pokes her head out through an opening of the tent so she can see what it's all about

She squints her eyes to make out a pair of hunters dragging a body of another from tent number twelve. Her blue gaze fills with anguish as soon as she can see the person they're dragging

"Jihyo..."

Jeongyeon clears her throat

"What's going on out there?"

"Go away. Go back to your camp"

Mina runs out of the store and Jeongyeon hides from sight to prevent anyone from attacking her. She's about to leave as Mina ordered her but, just as she's about to lift one side of the tent, the wolf turns around and stays.

She has a feeling. Tingling deep in her bones

And that's something she would never ignore

* * *

Nayeon entered the tent where Jihyo was. She'd been there when two hunters dragged Jihyo inside covered in blood and in worse shape than they ever imagined. Jihyo looked like she fought the worst of battles

The hunters didn't explain what happened and Nayeon tried to respect the idea even when she wanted to investigate further, even when deep inside she had an idea of what could've happened. She knew that perhaps she could obtain information about this in the _wrong way_ but it would alter the confidence of the group and it would be even more difficult to help her best friend

So now she was carrying a bucket with wet rags and water filled with ice. Nayeon offered to take care of Jihyo as the hunters guarding the tent ate something and regained some strength. Sana was nowhere to be seen, probably still training with Momo and Mina was lost somewhere in the camp not realizing the situation

That left the older one sitting in a chair next to Jihyo. She took one of the wet rags and removed the water droplets by squeezing the fabric tightly, then she folded the rag in half and carefully placed it on top of Jihyo's forehead. Jihyo flinched at the change in temperature and hissed, she complained a little and tried to remove the cloth without success since she had no strength, her limbs seemed made of paper. At least, little by little, she managed to regain consciousness and that was a good sign

"Don't do that" Nayeon warned her as she placed the cloth in the correct position once more "It'll help with your fever, you're burning"

"I hate it..." Jihyo spoke in a low, husky tone that was barely understandable. "It's cold"

"I know, I know but this will make you feel better"

"Take it off..."

“I can't, damn it. Don't be so stubborn right now or I'm gonna punch you"

Jihyo whined once more and closed her eyes letting Nayeon place the cloth. The silence in the room was only broken when Nayeon dipped the cloth into the water and squeezed it out.

Nayeon took time to look at Jihyo

She looked pale, exhausted, not as broken as when she fights a wolf but ten times worse, there's a slight trace of blood coming from her nose. What exactly had happened to her? Damn curiosity that left Nayeon on the verge of doing something stupid. Nayeon dipped the cloth into the water and with it, she drowned her curiosity.

With the back of her hand she touched the hunter's forehead and sighed when she realized the fever was slowly dropping, that was a sign Jihyo finally improved.

The tent slowly opened and Sana emerged with a tray of food and some boxes of medicine on it. The huntress stopped midway when she saw Nayeon sitting next to her partner

"Where's Mina?"

“Where were _you_?”

“Training. Where's Mina?”

“I have no idea but if this spreads as fast as gossip then it shouldn't be long until she's here. I was taking care of Jihyo in the meantime"

Nayeon couldn't ignore when Sana's gaze softened at those words

"Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine for now." Nayeon puts the bowl with water and the cloth under Jihyo's bed and then got up from the chair, walking to Sana to take the tray with food and medicine. The captain didn't even show resistance when Nayeon snatched the object from her hands. She was in a kind of trance

Nayeon sat next to Jihyo and went back to checking her temperature with the back of her hand. Jihyo was improving, her temperature finally regulated itself although her ragged breaths and weak whimpers worried the older. Nayeon put a hand on Jihyo's forearm and squeezed it lightly trying to get her attention

Jihyo didn't move

"Jihyo-yah?" Sana was the one who spoke, trying to provoke a reaction "Do you hear me?"

"She was conscious a few minutes ago" Nayeon tried to explain "She must be too tired"

It was there that Jihyo managed to move although they were very soft movements. Sana took a few quick steps in front of her but stopped when Nayeon raised a hand to hold her back. Jihyo coughed lightly and winced at the obvious pain she was feeling.

"Jihyo?" This time Nayeon called her “Try to wake up. Sana brought food and medicine for you. You need to be strong to get up"

Just at that moment the tent re-opened and this time it was Momo together with Mina. Both too respectful to say anything and break the sepulchral silence that covered the tent without rest. They stayed near the door, a few steps from reaching Sana

"It hurts" Jihyo muttered once "It hurts a lot..."

"What hurts, Jihyo?" Sana interrupted again only to be stopped by Nayeon once more, the youngest putting her index finger on her lips to show silence.

"Take this" Nayeon helped Jihyo digest one of the painkillers Sana brought. After a couple of failed attempts, Jihyo managed to swallow the painkiller and fall back into a deep sleep.

Nayeon claimed her place on the chair, Mina stood next to her and Momo stood at the entrance of the tent

"So those are the effects of tent 12..." Momo whispered without realizing she said it out loud. Sana immediately turned her head around and took a couple of steps towards the wolf

"Who told you about tent 12? How do you know about it?"

Momo stood firm

"I was just curious, I wanted to know why Jihyo it's like that"

“And who the hell told you how it worked? How do you know about these consequences?"

"Sana, this is not the time" Mina tried to regulate the conflict before it escalated to something more serious "Maybe the best thing is she finds out about this"

"Who told you, Momo?"

"Park Sooyoung"

Sana frowned and grabbed the knife hidden in one of her boots, putting it on Momo's throat too close to her vital points. Momo kept an icy gaze while everyone was completely silent.

“You had the fucking nerve to talk to one of the Velvets? Even when I told you they were beyond dangerous?"

“You aren't my boss, Sana. Are you forgetting you're my enemy?"

_“Minatozaki Sana. You have 10 minutes to leave the store with the rest of your unit. Park Jihyo stays in there"_

A voice shouted from outside the tent and Sana immediately left without caring about her problems with Momo anymore. Seungwan, one of the members of the Velvet unit that Sana saw quite briefly before, stood firm outsidd with a loaded gun and her uniform ready for battle. Sana raised an eyebrow as she gripped the knife in her hand tightly

“We know what happened to Park Jihyo and you also know the rules were violated. Get out of there, I'll take care of her"

"You can't do that..." Sana felt all the hundreds of days of training were useless, they couldn't prepare her for something like this and she was speechless. She knew very well what those words meant coming from Seungwan

However, Sana barely managed to speak any other word

Because a reddish wolf lunged at Seungwan with a fierce claw. The woman stepped back and pointed her rifle at the beast.

Sana widened her eyes in surprise. She had seen that wolf before but she doesn't know why she's here

"Jeongyeon-"

"What is the meaning of this, Sana?" Seungwan still kept her gun pointed at Jeongyeon who showed her dripping fangs with rage "You said they were under control and that you would use them to capture ferals... how come they dare to attack me?"

The captain moved quickly until she was in front of Jeongyeon's wolf. The pack leader was average in size with her reddish fur turning brown in the shadows but she wasn't a rival to someone without traces of humanity, with all that experience. She had no chance to face Seungwan even with all her pent-up anger. Nayeon hadn't made the attempt to leave the tent, probably trying to help Jihyo

Momo and Mina also left the tent although they stayed still, trying to avoid a bad move by the hunter in front of both of them. Mina was trying to breathe normally even though her heart was roaring inside her ribcage

"Who are you trying to protect?" Momo intervened with the most controlled voice possible, she was also losing control of her patience but she couldn't let go when Jeongyeon's life was in danger like this

"Protect?" Seungwan spoke again “Why is this wolf protecting them? Didn't you say they didn't know each other, Sana?"

"You wouldn't understand" Momo intervened again

"Momo, stop it. There's no need for this" Sana extended her hands still protecting Jeongyeon "Jihyo will receive the punishment for her carelessness, there's no need for you to take care of it... I'll personally do it"

Seungwan was silent for a while, her weapon never changed position. A jade gaze as cold as just moments ago, she reloaded her gun and was about to pull the trigger.

"Get out of the way"

"Seungwan, no"

"Fuck off. If those wolves or Jihyo can't control themselves, then they'll die"

Just before Sana had a chance to shout, Jeongyeon pounced on Seungwan once more. Her jaws ready to bite her. The older girl couldn't hear Momo's voice calling out her name or Sana's trying to stop her. She could only see this dark-haired, light-eyed woman, too weak to be so agile. She could only see the image of Mina in the tent while they chatted

Seungwan dropped her gun and made a fist out of her hand. She tilted her body to the side so Jeongyeon's fangs couldn't touch her and then she hit the wolf hard on the torso. Jeongyeon body made a grotesque sound, all of her bones shattered into a thousand pieces and she fell backwards right where she had come from. Momo couldn't control herself anymore and she let out her own wolf, pouncing on Seungwan with the same fierceness. The hunter took a few steps back to take the weapon from the ground, she didn't care about Momo's size and she wasn't scared about how experienced she looked.

Seungwan took advantage of her loaded gun and took a shot right at Momo's shoulder. Unlike that shot Sana gave her in the woods while they were training, this one caused Momo to lose the balance on her leg and fall to the ground as a human, wallowing in blood and dirt as she howled in pain.

Mina, for the first time in many years, felt scared of what she was seeing: Jeongyeon was unconscious and _profusely_ bleeding while Momo kept holding her wound. Seungwan barely moved and pointed back at Sana. The captain stood firm, unbeatable from what she just seen. She protects the entrance to the tent as if her life depended on it

"Enough already, Seungwan"

Suddenly, Joohyun, the captain Sana mentioned, was in front of Seungwan and Sana holding the barrel of the rifle with her fingertips and completely blocking the exit of any bullets. Seungwan didn't look surprised that Joohyun was there, her face was a stoic grin as she glued the rifle to the side of her body. Mina thought her brain was playing tricks on her…how the hell Joohyun managed to get there in just the blink of an eye?

Joohyun turned around, her face had that kind of creepy smile that was hard to explain. In the midst of such a tense situation, seeing her smile was terrifying. The velvet's captain's eyes fell on Jeongyeon and then on Momo with no sign of mercy. Mina moved cautiously to the front, not caring if these women were dangerous or not. She was going to protect Jihyo and, as a second option, the wolves lying on the ground

"This time we'll let it go" Joohyun spoke staring Sana into her eyes "I hope and Jihyo understands the dehumanization process is not a game"

Just as they arrived, Joohyun and Seungwan turned around and disappeared from the place. Around the scene some other hunters started to gather, unsure of what they should do since the wolves were supposed to be their enemies but with captain Minatozaki and officer Myoui protecting them. What could they do?

"Mina" Sana broke the tension almost with a finger "Come help me take them to the tent, we have to treat Momo"

"What about Jeongyeon?" The doctor was already moving, she was walking to where Jeongyeon was taking her in her arms in bridal style and walking towards the tent

"We can only hope she starts to regenerate"

Momo saw everything in one quick movement, as if she were dreaming it. The pain in her shoulder was beginning to spread to her chest and she could only let out another scream at the brutal sensation of being torn from within. Sana approached her and helped her up, leading her into the tent

The pain was so intense that even when she wanted to stay awake, her body couldn't stand it and Momo lost consciousness.

* * *

Sana was idly watching the scene in front of her: Jeongyeon on a respirator with a machine monitoring her pulse. Momo breathing heavily as the effects of the anesthesia wore off and she began to feel all the pent-up pain

Sana made use of the clinic inside the camp. No matter how genetically modified they were, the hunters still had human bodies; fragile beings in need of attention. The clinic was small with a pharmacy full of basic medicines, a wide space with some beds in a row, and a small operating room. Without hesitation, Sana led the wolves to that place and gave her best effort to save their lives. Especially Jeongyeon's

_"Her chest and lungs are shattered, they're filled to the brim with blood and all kind of fluids"_ Sana remembers Mina's words _"I don't know how she survived but she did... I must connect her to a respirator to wait for her regeneration, if it doesn't work then..."_

Jeongyeon had her life hanging by a thread but she seemed to cling to it with both hands. Her heart rate had increased even though she still had difficulty breathing. That blow could've killed her in seconds

Momo was the luckiest

Sana knew the hunters were armed to defeat wolves but she was sure Seungwan's rifle had been modified beyond the usual. The bullet that Mina extracted in the operating room was shaped like a gear and constantly rotating while inside Momo's body so, no matter how much her body healed, the bullet still destroys the newly constructed tissue. It was a certain death for any wolf regardless of its experience.

The regeneration process for Momo was starting to take effect perhaps because Sana was close

"Can you hear me?" Sana spoke in a soft voice, without forgetting they still were in a place that demanded silence.

Momo moaned in pain as she tried to sit up on the bed. The bandage on her shoulder was filling with blood with every effort she made until it was finally completely red and the wolf finally managed to sit up. Turning her head and seeing Jeongyeon in that deplorable state made her close her eyes and sigh, flopping onto the bed once more.

"I guess you've healed right?" Sana walked to the edge of Momo's bed

"Where is Mina? She has things some things to explain"

Sana stood firm

“She's with Jihyo and she said she's moving from her side until she is healed"

Momo looked at Jeongyeon again and Sana couldn't help but recognize the crystalline tears shining in the wolf's eyes, a sign that it hurt to see her friend in that place and in that way.

"Will she be okay?"

“Only if her regeneration does its job. If not, you can kiss her goodbye"

The black wolf frowned and pulled the wires attached around her body so she could stand up and grab Sana by the collar of her uniform. They both stared at each other. Sana didn't make the slightest attempt to mark her distance from her

“This is all your fucking fault! Jeongyeon was trying to protect her liege from the velvets and you couldn't help her!"

Sana stays quiet

"Why did you bring us here? Tell me the truth! You didn't want me to go near the velvet unit because they already knew about all this!"

Already with adrenaline at correct levels. Sana finally made up her mind to talk to Momo. She grabbed the wolf's hands and pushed them away from her to then sit on the bed that Momo left empty a few moments ago

“I wasn't lying to you about the feral wolves and the huge one that looks like a bear. The velvet unit must've found out by some other means 'cause I didn't say a single word to them"

Momo was still breathing hard, the pain in her shoulder completely disappeared and the only reminder was a bandage covered in crimson blood.

"Why do you need the help of wolves to capture the bear and the ferals?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a strategy. If you and Jeongyeon help us, we'll manage to confuse the bear and bring them to trial. Bae Joohyun doesn't have the slightest idea that you guys will help us"

The wolf was completely silent. She stared at her hands without interest just to try to collect her thoughts. Would she be able to help her natural enemies just because these people were asking her to? It almost sounds stupid. It was as if they just transformed into puppets and both Sana and Mina were pulling the strings

Sana looked at her expectantly. That wasn't a request but an order

"What do we gain if we help you?"

"Complete immunity. No hunter will chase you for the rest of your lives and you'll be able to live where you please without fear of being chased or hunted"

Momo felt her heart pound at such a tempting proposal. Since hers and Jeongyeon pack was slaughtered more than twelve years ago, she never knew peace and that was what led her to roam the world with her friends, seeking a new pack to protect themselves from the hunters. That 'immunity' that Sana spoke of was like an oasis in the middle of the desert

"What about our blood bond?"

"I don't know" Sana got out of bed and walked over to Momo "As soon as we finish with the bear I'll set you free and Jeongyeon will also be able to walk away from Mina"

The wolf's dark gaze drifted to her beloved friend who was still struggling to breathe. With her heart in her throat and her soul on one finger, Momo sighed and stared at the gray-eyed hunter.

"You can't just set me free"

Sana frowned

"What are you talking about? You just have to break the bond, right?"

The hunter wishes she never asked that

"If you do, we'll die"


End file.
